Semenya likely to keep medal regardless of gender test results

So are they only going to show fairness to Semenya and completely ignore the injustice done to the other contestants in this race? The 800 meter final was a great race that was completely ignored because of this person. The IAAF needs to take responsibility for this debacle and set things right. They should have taken care of the issue before the WC finals. How long can it really take to determine that Semenya had testes. It was completely obvious to anyone who watched the race.

The thing is, had Semenya made any attempt at all to be feminine, this might have never become an issue.

What is the actual IAAF rule regarding gender? How do they define who can compete as a woman? Anyone know?

The IAAF does "not expect to make a final decision on this case before the next meeting of the IAAF Council which takes place in Monaco on November 20-21."

That is absurd.

Let her keep her medal, put an asterisk after her name, have a set of duplicates made up and give them to the 3 runners that came in after "her."

Semenya is a victim here, we must remember that. She did not purposely try to decieve everyone. She grew up her whole life knowing she was a girl. It is others that should be blamed.

There is none- I've read the rules up and down left right and center and I can find none that addresses your question.

Bear of Bad News wrote:

What is the actual IAAF rule regarding gender? How do they define who can compete as a woman? Anyone know?

sgh wrote:

Semenya is a victim here, we must remember that. She did not purposely try to decieve everyone. She grew up her whole life knowing she was a girl. It is others that should be blamed.

Maybe he is victim...give it about .001% chance, as this was brought to their attention awhile ago, and it was a conscious choice to put him into this situation as a female.

Anyone honestly believe that no one has questioned this before? That this was some shocking relevation to Semenya? Are Europeans and Americans the only people who it was obvious to? Please....

Wow.

http://bit.ly/NzDas

you are right, a conscious choice THAT WAS NOT made by Semenya. She was explotited for her talent, and her country could have prevented this whole situation, but they went ahead and let her run.

qazwsx wrote:

Let her keep her medal, put an asterisk after her name, have a set of duplicates made up and give them to the 3 runners that came in after "her."

WHAT ABOUT THE MONEY THEY WON? WHERE IS THAT GOING TO COME FROM

Well, if the other poster is right and there is no IAAF rule clarifying who they define as a woman and who is allowed to compete in the woman's race, then I don't see how this is all even an issue. The IAAF constructed their rules poorly and Caster was allowed to run as a woman as a result. What she did was legal under the rules. They should probably make a rule about it now so to clear things up in the future, but what's done is done.

No drugs wrote:

qazwsx wrote:

Let her keep her medal, put an asterisk after her name, have a set of duplicates made up and give them to the 3 runners that came in after "her."

WHAT ABOUT THE MONEY THEY WON? WHERE IS THAT GOING TO COME FROM

The IAAF after all they are the ones who stuffed it up

With all the drug cheating bastards in our sport I say let her be - would anyone here really want to swap places with her?

There is apparently some precedence. If you've been following the Science of Sport blog he mentions that some (I think it's 4?) women have been asked to stop competing in recent years due to gender abnormalities. Apparently this was done without any publicity and without invalidating anybody's results.

Poor Caster. I can't imagine what she must be feeling right now. ASA and IAAF are equally to blame for this.

sgh wrote:

Semenya is a victim here, we must remember that. She did not purposely try to decieve everyone. She grew up her whole life knowing she was a girl. It is others that should be blamed.

I agree, but I do not agree with the "victim" status. Caster Semenya is a unique person with special God-given talents. Since Caster is a young girl from a small and economically challenged village, her parents probably had no idea that she did not have a uterus or ovaries, and that Caster has internal testes. The probably looked at Caster, saw no penis and said "it's a girl" so she was raised as such.

As far as I know, Caster has passed every drug test that has been administered to her/him.

Has her/his human rights been violated, I don't think so. We live by the rules, and the rules state that a gender test can be administered.

I also don't think that the South African Team entered her/him in the women's division thinking that anything was wrong. Look at Maria Mutola, Pamela Jelimo and even Yoko Shibui.

I don't think that even Caster realizes that there are any problem with her/him whatsoever. The question becomes, "what do they do with her/him in the future?" I feel really sorry for this person Caster Semenya. She/He is caught in the middle of this huge mess, having the descriptions or her/his most private and God-given bodily areas described to the world in great detail. Sad. Very sad.

So is it safe to post in this Semenya thread?

From the front page.

*IAAF Officially Comments On Leaked News Nick Davies, IAAF spokesman: "ASA's actions can have serious consequences for Semenya if we are not able to speak to her soon. In short, it will come down to her refusing to co-operate. Had it been a drugs issue, she would have been suspended a long time ago, but this is a unique problem for which the IAAF's rules do not make provision. It is important for us to talk to her about the results of the tests.''

This is frikking unbelievable.

This is much worse than a drug test violation. There need to be major revisions in the IAAF rules to make sure that only women are allowed to compete in women's competitions.

The IAAF does not need to talk to him. He is not a woman and has no business being in women's competitions.

J.R. wrote:

This is frikking unbelievable.

This is much worse than a drug test violation. There need to be major revisions in the IAAF rules to make sure that only women are allowed to compete in women's competitions.

The IAAF does not need to talk to him. He is not a woman and has no business being in women's competitions.

No, the whole thing is not surprising. If Semenya had been a white European or Japanese or Arab lets say, obviously mannish in appearance, with all the same "baggage" coming in to the WC's, she'd have been disqualified. But with the PC thinking in charge these days, "she" was let run while officials fretted. Officials were probably hoping that there would not be as much attention as there was. Yes, part of it as the "race card" in a fashion. This is why people say, look the other way at obvious drug cheat Kelly Holmes suddenly becoming a "champ" at an advanced age, while if she had been a white Brit, the letsrun crowd and others would have raised hell. Lots of hypocritical and self-deceptive chickenshits out there.

You'd still hit it, right?